Erin Cech

Erin Cech (bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and sociology in 2005) was a Women’s Center Student of Achievement award winner in 2005 and an effective leader in the College of Engineering (COE) during her tenure at Montana State University. She served as ambassador for the COE, representing the college at public events, industry relations meetings and on the faculty advisory board. Her conference presentations and publications were extraordinary for an undergraduate student, and her professional research continues to follow educational dynamics for underrepresented groups. She was chosen by the COE to sit on the Women in Engineering Advisory Council. She presented at conferences, including Girls for a Change, and the National Association of Minority Engineering Program Administrators. Since graduating from MSU, Cech earned her Ph.D. and joined the sociology faculty at University of Michigan. Her research examines cultural mechanisms of inequality reproduction, specifically how inequality is reproduced through processes that are not overtly discriminatory or coercive, but rather those that are built into seemingly innocuous cultural beliefs and practices. She has studied dynamics in educational settings for underrepresented populations including Native Americans and LGBTQI+ individuals to determine the ways in which biases affect academic work, careers and family dynamics.

Erin Cech’s research examines cultural mechanisms of inequality reproduction, specifically how inequality is reproduced through processes that are not overtly discriminatory or coercive, but rather those that are built into seemingly innocuous cultural beliefs and practices.